On the one hand, without social communication it is impossible for any social structures to emerge and be preserved, because social systems function only when participants are connected through communication and because society is a system of interacting communicative events and actions. On the other hand, the mass media are not only the fourth estate and a window to reality, but also possess the power to form and modify public opinion and even to construct and reconstruct this reality. This explains why both interpersonal and mass communications are building blocks in the formation of the socially, culturally and ethnologically determined individual. Neither sociology nor cultural studies nor ethnology can be implemented theoretically and practically outside the field of communication, the study of which is the basis of interdisciplinary master's programme ‘Media, Society, Culture (Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations)'.

Its interdisciplinary character and the focus on ‘real life' fully complies with the Communiqué of the European Ministers, who are responsible for higher education, issued in 2009 in the international forums in Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, when the representatives of 46 European countries made the first serious assessment of the path gone thus far, outlined new directions for development and identified key priorities for the next decade.

The master's programme ‘Media, Society, Culture (Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations)' is intended for students who have completed undergraduate programmes in the fields of social sciences and humanities, it also aims to increase the educational and professional qualifications of professionals from other undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, who are already working in the fields of mass and persuasive communication.

The aim of the degree is to:

Provide a wider theoretical and operational knowledge of the nature, function and application of mass and persuasive communication and about the social and cultural integrational role of the media in a global society;

Create or develop and enrich the already established advertising, image-making, PR-making and journalistic skills;

Be a socially-oriented discourse and guide to young people with an analytical mind, a rich background culture, writing skills and managerial acumen.

Prospects

The master's programme provides professional training for the coverage and analysis of specific issues related to society, culture and cultural interactions. Graduates can look for jobs in marketing departments, the advertising and public relations departments of the government, private businesses and non-profit organizations, management and operational units of the media and work as (for instance):

Experts in advertising, public relations, media communication and cultural policy in social structures and institutions and the private sector;

Communication specialists in the educational, scientific-methodological and organizational management activities in the system of education and culture;

Communication consultants to political organizations;

Image-makers and press-secretaries;

Programme managers, advertising managers, PR managers;

Editors, reporters, TV hosts;

Creative editors, authors, writers and copywriters.

How to apply

A diploma for a completed BA degree with a grade no less than ‘Good' or a diploma for a complete MA degree in any field of sciences;

Fluency in a foreign language.

Fees: 2650 BGN (600 per semester and 250 BGN upon the completion of the degree with a written exam or a defence of a master's thesis)

Contact us

Faculty of Philosophy and History The University of Plovdiv 24 Tzar Asen Street Plovdiv, 4000